Half Measures?

Hola,

Quiet weekend watching the rugby so I also managed to crack on with the next block of 30 Boyz. All my brown dry-brushes and block skintone was completed before I split them into two lots of 15 for the detail work. This way I can go back and forth whilst washes etc are drying and the idea of churning through 30 lots of anything was just too much to contemplate :(

Working through I noticed two particular boys where I'd gone a bit OTT with the stack flock fur and effectively given the one-sies or gorilla costumes, you decide, and though they might amuse. Green wash and basing tonight!

Elsewhere, with the usual "it's almost payday, lets buy some more toys" itch in full effect I've been somewhat torn between another cycle of Warhammer Invasion,  Stewart has been caning me horribly with his Lizardmen and Undead decks both of which interest me, and going full bore with Dystopian French. I was tempted to go for both but last month saw the card getting some non-toy related batter (frassing rassing Dick Dasterdly!) and I REALLY shouldn't.

So, prior to Orc related funds I'm going to be sensible and just pick up the Lost and the Damned WI expansion along with the DW French fleet box plus the Toulon cruisers, BIG thermal lance thingys and the rulebook..........maybe some of the subs, only and extra £8 :)

Bossing It

Hmmm another week between posts and Tharg knows how long since anything new has appeared on the WIP page, probably time to use it or loose it really :/ Just been busy with Life really, ....oh and the odd hour or two of skyrim :)

Last week saw a decent amount of gaming, another highly enjoyable evening of Warhammer Invasion though Stewart may disagree as I don't believe he managed a single win all night. I did at least TRY to feel vaguely guilty and am fairly sure I was less of a c0ck this time.

D&D on Thursday was a bit of a talky one and then some inter-party squabbling. This was mainly because, following on from last session's kill-steal banter, I decided to pocket the Paladin's magical ring, that summons his mighty other-planar steed Salsa-Queena, whilst he was sleeping.

When he found ou he was the only one that wasn't amused and my "Where's your horsey gone" song, in terrible Irish brogue, probably didn't help matters. This caused a number of minor recriminations and stamped feet. All sorted out in the end but guaranteed that we didn't get to the next combat so an early finish rather than get stuck halfway through.

Both sessions involved zero figures and I think its just that my attentions are elsewhere at the moment. No bad thing to have a break every now and then. Last night I did however manage to finish off the Orc Warlord and BSB on boars to a suitable for sale standard. Rather enjoyed painting these, especially the check on the banner and the ginger BSB boar :)

Technically at least 8 PPs due but i'll take 5 give the quick and easy intentions.

In an effort to clear the project the other 30 boy block is next up followed by the Boar Boyz which will definitely break the back of it. Manual 360 below.......

Mobbing Up

Waaagghhh.........I have finally finished the remaining 25 boyz to complete the first block of 30.

To be honest all the non front rankers got for highlights, post Devlan Mud, was a drybrush across the face followed by teeth and bone bits. Definitely more than happy with the result for a paint to sell job. Other than the front rank I wouldn't dare to try and claim 2 PPs a piece. 35 PPs for the remaining 25 boyz seems just about right :)

Can't tell you how glad I am to see the ladz finished. As a break I've already been working on the Warlord and BSB and quickly got them through to the standard wash of Devlan Mud. A happy diversion but now I'm on a bit of a roll the remaining block of 30 WILL be next pretty much breaking the back of the project.
Waaagghhh.........

Front Row Union

Just a quick post as I've finally made some, minor, progress on the Orc Boyz unit as part of the remains of the army to be painted and sold to fund / subsidise my previous and ongoing investment into Warhammer Invasion.

More specifically I've finished off the front rank who, as their status befits, have likely received a little more TLC than their rank bonus colleagues (do Orcs have colleagues?) are likely to receive. I'm happy enough with the furs and though the skintone looked rather too dark for a while detailing has provided a better balance.

Another 10 PPs in the bag to clear target for the month, not that I'm taking that as an excuse to disappear into Skyrim for he rest of the week.

There's also the oblique reference to the upcoming Six Nations during which I expect to paint a bit more with the non England games in the background. Somehow appropriate really.

Club tonight and Rich's Samurai SAGA campaign. As a gaming night isn't strictly a hobby night, at least in my head,  and given that I painted last night does that mean the Wednesday is a 'Rim night??

Answers on a post should you so wish :)

Tough at the Top??

The latest session of Enfield Gamers Mordheim campaign, run by yours truly took place on Tuesday night and my incredible run of luck reached new heights as, despite my best efforts the Oriental O&G's triumphed again.

Going for a bit of multi-player action the two prime warbands, myself and Ed's Skaven, were both entrusted by The Count escort his personal seer to an Arcane Fulcrum outside of Grunburg to perform an ANCIENT RITUAL to locate the Grimoire of Grunburg. Scene-stealing stuff!!
Using the Breakthrough scenario, with a few minor tweeks, the other warbands lay in ambush. Three sets of human Mercs and the Undead jumped Ed whilst both Dwarf bands and the Possessed blocked my path.

Both myself and Ed had what we both believed to be a real seer and a decoy, not being aware of each other's mission, thus only one of the four was the real deal and one of us had been double crossed by  The Count.

Even with rout tests at 50% I honestly expected niether of us to make it through and as such have the ambushing warbands squabble amongst themselves. This was not to be the case.

I'll assume that  Ed used superior cunning, skill and application of force. I happen to know that I rolled a horrific number of 6s on casualty rolls which quickly saw Rob's Dwarves routed and my right flank open for a bunch of gobbos to leg it down with my non-decoy seer. Even despite my Troll failing repeated Stupidity tests I fought Jon's Possessed to Rout only to be hammered, literally, by Ian's slower Dwarven reserve who didn't take a single casualty.

With both apparently kosher Seers kept safe an odds-evens roll would decide which band had been double crossed.........it wasn't me.

So next time out it's ANCIENT RITUAL time with the the bloke whose running he campaign in the boss seat........move along, move along, nohing to see here ;)

The Road To Hell??

The Dwarves routed left an open flank

Mopping up on the left

The Lone Troll drools on!

Big 'Ol Lumps

This is Gu-Ankh (Gonk), the latest addition to the Warband with No Name. Another stunning OOP Confrontation figure, he'll, hopefully fairly obviously,be representing my Troll.

I could have added a group of Orcs for the same price but they're still in the blister and one Stupidity check probably balances another four Animosity tests. More importantly there's always the unbridled joy of a vomit attack :)
Painted him a while ago, just had to re-base him!

Another big lump, I've built the Easykit Republic Gunship. Not so easy I have to admit, plenty of taping required to hold bits in place (as per instructions!). A little superglue helped out.

She's going to get a full re-paint to fit in with my Genetic Infantry. I love cold war Russian kit and one reason for the initial purchase was its similarity to a Mil Hind so that's where the paint scheme will be falling towards......at some point!

Meanwhile this is the big 'ol lump that I SHOULD be painting. Highly doubt that the army will get done for the New Year but we'll see where we get and the left overs can become a resolution.

Just 8 weeks to go..... I think!!!

Tooth and Claw plus a side order of Wings

Bit of classic the Orc Wyvern I've never disliked any of the figures over the years other than maybe the posing of the current Azhag. Never as cool, or as much table-power, as a dragon but not bad for a race that grow under rocks!

I've gone for what I see as a more "realistic" / less cartoon paint scheme keeping with the slightly darker look to the larger army and units painted so far. A fairly basic warlord but I used the main bits of the original rider to make a more impressive warlord on boar. He'll be along later!

 Drybrush and washes have done pretty well to be honest. 5 PPs is a fair result. Next up is a block of 30 boyz..... deep JOY!! ;)

Tooth and Claw

A unit of 10 Wolf Riders added to the ranks of the painted following close behind the chariots. Technically these should be 4 PPs per figure but that's far too much for effort expended. 20 for the lot feels right.

I really need to crack on with the two big 30 Boy blocks to break the back of the job. I have now settled on red as the main scheme along with black, yellow and grey accents.

Meanwhile, the more I think about it, the more E-Bay seems a likely destination but that's some way off yet. We shall see!!

P.S: yet another WIP update on the WIP page, shocker!!

The Fungal Suspects

Flicking back through my rather dusty Orc & Goblin Armybook it would seem the GW has dropped the whole idea of greenskins growing under rocks. I like the grit that has been added to their "feel" but it seems a shame somehow. I was never the greatest fan of super-comedy greenskins but I'm sure a balance could be found. Each to their own though.

More to the point I've finished my multi-colour Kabuki inspires Mordheim warband. They've made a nice change for my the much darker look of the army and I've enjoyed expanding my normal O&G palette.

The Bash Trust. I've not gone for more detail on the Warboss' coat as he was already looking quite busy. Pretty much the same with the Big Un's. Some black Ogre style tatts were a possibility but it felt like it would just be a bit too much all around.

Still only henchmen but beautifully detailed figures for Goblin, as were all Confrontation figures. It's a shame that they don't / can't make them anymore but there you go!

With the whole warband I only added a few necessary GW bits and they've all blended in pretty well despite the odd swollen hand. Must be a fungal growth thing!

The Shaman and Squig-prodders add my necessary touch of alternative. I almost painted the bow pink but left that for the Shaman who as with the others I've kept simpler rather than busier.

Another 22 PPs and some of my most pleasing. Now I just need to weather their new painted status the next time they hit the tabletop :)

Bandit Country

This week saw the Enfield Gamers return to its first organised quarterly campaign in a while, namely Mordheim.

I'm running it and have, as usual, gone alternative using the Empire in Flames wilderness campaign rules. As much as anything the scenery requirements are easier to fulfil though I want to get as many of the club's many building on the tables as possible.

Set in and around the town of Grunwald (see the NEW dedicated blog page) and with six gaming nights available the format is one "normal" game followed by a round of multi-player pit-fights with each warband entering a limited number of fighters.

Each gaming night represents a campaign week. The main scenario is the warband being out and about on their nefarious business. The pit fight represents The Count of Grunwald's gladiatorial games which bonus experience and loot on offer along with some battlefield medicine!

First night was particularly rural with everyone playing the Bounty Hunting scenario, competing to bring in the heads of various bands of ruffians who have fallen out with The Count!

Not being entirely sure of numbers I set up 4 table to get 10 players, so two tables were a three-way which the scenario insisted wouldn't be a problem. The main problem for most was that the various bandits didn't fancy being taken in and caused more casualties amongst the players than any of the actual players!

I faced off against Rob's incredibly small band of 5 Dwarves and Charlie's more sizable band of Reiklanders. With 15 Orcs, Goblins and Squigs I foolhardily split my force and went after both warbands. Hmmm.... classic Orc if you ask me!

Rob lost two of his number to Bandit crossbow fire almost immediatelyely only to rout once he had met me in combat. Charlie meanwhile hid behind a wood which then became the scene for a Tex-Mex standoff before time forced his hand. Brief and bloody tooth vs shield action saw me fail my first rout check, as my boss had been Bandited into unconsciousness, to hand him a cowardly, cowardly victory. 

The pit fight was set in The Count's Keep's garden, quite the mouthful, with bonus exploration rolls for tagging and controlling the central tree. Taking on Rich's Orcs and Stuart's Reilklanders, Rich charged for the tree with a single Orc and then hid leaving myself and Stuart to battle for the tree.

Numbers told as I'd taken in just one Orc hero backed by Gobbos and Squigs. Victory was mine!! All good fun for everyone on the night I can see that I'm going to enjoy this one enormously :) 

It's already occured that Mordheim may work as an ideal ruleset for Zombie Village, so this will be an excellent bit of additional playtest! Work, work, work ;)

Big Pointy Teeth...

.....and vicious streaks a mile wide!

Quiet weekend watching excessive amounts of rugby to varying degrees of satisfaction. The Mordheim goblins are coming on well, just waiting for higlight work, but their Squig pets are all ready for action on Tuesday night. 5 painting points seem about right.

WIP shots of the Gobbos and the fully detailed Church on the relevant page :)

Multi-stringed bow

Is that a harp then!??

I played football again this afternoon which is nothing new as Sunday afternoon footy has become a regular fixture, despite a jippy right knee and the fact that I haven't followed the game since I was at primary school.
Due to jippy knee I play at the back, in the center or on the left, and am, apparently, rather difficult to get around and don't mind a bit of shoulder action. I rarely get picked last anymore, which is nice.

I've been slowly getting more into it and have even picked up an older Fulham shirt, £10 from flea bay, due to their rep for hard defensive play. I've even been watching the odd half of a game during the post game pint of coke. This week we kicked off early to accommodate the Spurs / Arsenal game which I actually watched the majority of at home.

It was at least in the background whilst I did some STUFF, though I did catch all 3 goals, and watched the Wasps score live-fed on the laptop grind to a loss away to Newcastle! BAH!!!!

So in the vein of trying new things here's my Mordheim Boss and Shaman basecoated and washed. Rarely have I painted any greenskin so brightly but I'm very encouraged with my work to date. Still keen to add some pea-dot fauna!

Did I also mention that I'm also known on the pitch for my luminous yellow boots?? :)